For more than 30 years, McCall has been buying homes and properties in the city and renovating them for rent. / Jason Lenhart/The Advocate

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A look at ideas and suggestions for remedying Newark's neighborhood rental problems from the perspective of tenants, neighbors, Realtors and city leaders. Where do Newark's city council members stand on the proposed rental registration program?

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NEWARK -- Landlords who own property in Newark's residential neighborhoods say they are just trying make a living and provide a service, but they suffer from a much different reputation.

Many factors drive those perceptions, local landlords say.

The recession caused financial problems and drove some into bankruptcy. Tenants destroy some rental properties. Additional city regulations from a proposed rental registration program may increase costs for landlords doing business in Newark. And, a few bad landlords reflect on all the rest.

"Everybody thinks we make a killing," said Tim Bailey, a landlord and member of the rental registration committee. "We pay property taxes higher than on owner-occupied (houses). If the city will just enforce what they have, it will do a very good job of cleaning up the mess."

Bailey owns 14 properties in Newark, including two on the 100 block of East Church Street, two on the 300 block of Elmwood Avenue and two on the 200 block of Lawrence Street.

Landlords do not receive the 2.5 percent owner-occupied property tax reduction on their rental units, but do on their own homes, according to Chad Fuller, the Licking County chief deputy auditor.

Also, the Homestead Exemption for those age 65 and older, applies only to the primary residence and not rental units.

The city has a property maintenance code, which Bailey said could use more "teeth," and is considering a rental registration fee and inspections of property owned by landlords with prior violations.

In May, the city placed property liens on 61 properties related to maintenance violations, including 44 rentals. The maintenance problems were on properties owned by 34 landlords who had not paid for previous violations.

Good tenants key

The most important part of being a good landlord is finding good tenants, some local landlords said.

Landlords use a variety of checks, some more than others, to determine if the applicant will make a good renter. The background checks can be of credit, criminal records, rent history, references, consultations with previous landlords, and visits to prospective tenants' current homes.

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All those checks still do not guarantee the tenant will be a good one, however.

"I try to (check), but I've had more evictions this year than in 20 years of having rentals," said Bill Mickey, a landlord and owner of ReMax Realty Centre in Newark. He said he did not know the reason for the sudden spike.

"Lately, I've been going to their (current) residence and see how they live on the inside. It's tricky, these days," Mickey said. "There is a lot of headaches. But, I've had tenants for many years and they take care of their property."

The cost of evicting and cleaning up after a bad tenant can really add up, landlords said.

"You do the best you can to ensure they'll pay the rent and take care of the property," said Roger Hegemier, a local landlord. "Every time there's turnover, it costs you dearly."

Hegemier owns 10 properties in Newark, including two each on Grant Street, Belle Vista Avenue and Dayton Road.

The costs, including cleaning the carpets, can easily add up to $1,000 every time a tenant leaves, Hegemier said.

Pat Guanciale, a landlord and real estate agent with Coldwell Banker King Thompson, said he has one renter who takes better care of the grass than Guanciale does of his own yard.

"You've gotta be selective on your tenants," Guanciale said. "You let the wrong person in there and it can trash up a neighborhood pretty quickly.

"Hopefully, the tenants have some pride in being there and maintain the property. Part of the problem is the tenant and not the landlord."

One landlord's impact

Bob McCall, who has bought and rehabilitated 18 houses on West Main and 11th streets, said he takes pride in fixing up the dilapidated structures. One house he's working on now the city formerly planned to demolish, he said.

"All the money I take in in rent goes back in my properties," McCall said. "I'd rather have money in property than in the bank. We're doing it right. It takes me about one year per house to do it."

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McCall cleared debris from along Raccoon Creek behind the West Main Street houses, built huge decks on the backs of the homes, and helped transform the neighborhood some viewed as one of the worst in the city.

"This is the only area I buy property," McCall said. "I try to take pride in my houses. These houses here are good for 100 years and when I'm done with them, they're good for another 100 years."

McCall acknowledges most landlords don't put as much time into one property, and some do very little to improve it.

"A lot of landlords just don't care and just say 'You got the money, and that's all," McCall said. "There's too many bad ones. They don't care. They want to make money.

"They have every right to do what they want in their property. We need more landlords to fix it up nice, but how do you force them to do it?"

Aging landlords

Several observers of local housing conditions, whether owner-occupied or rentals, said aging landlords can't keep up with the work.

"Kids aren't getting into (rental business)," Hegemier said. "There's a lot of white hair when you go to the meetings at the apartment association.

"The economy is obviously a part of it. People own property on fixed income. I feel sorry for those people. I really do."

City Councilman Doug Marmie, R-6th Ward, agreed that older homeowners and older homes can become a difficult combination.

"The elderly try to hold onto the homestead as long as they can and they can't afford it," Marmie said.

Landlords acknowledge some of their peers couldn't resist some low prices and bought up too many properties. But, they say, the problem landlords are a distinct minority.

"I think, by and large, they keep their apartments up," Hegemier said. "This is our retirement income and if we don't keep them up, they won't pay (off)."

Darrell Ellis, 76, owed the city almost $9,570 in fines and maintenance costs on nine properties in Newark, in May. Ellis owns 38 properties, 34 of them in Newark, but lives in Heath, according to Licking County property records.

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The city placed $14,442 in property liens on 12 Ellis properties in the past two years.

Gerald DePalmo, 79, owns 123 properties in Licking County, including 100 in Newark. He was cited in 2011 for one unpaid violation, resulting in a property lien of $424, on a North 40th Street property.

New-build rentals

The rundown state of older housing stock in the city center prompted the building of new rental housing in the city.

In fact, two of the largest rental property owners in the city are companies that built new housing units for rent.

East Newark Homes, owned by Woda Management and Real Estate, manages 40 single-family homes built in 2007 on vacant lots scattered mostly in the East End. It operates locally out of a small office at 51 N. Fourth St.

East Newark Homes rents three-bedroom homes for $649 and four-bedroom homes for $700. Woda Group manages more than 160 properties with 6,000 units in several states.

Attempts to reach Leslie Taylor, regional manager for East Newark Homes, were unsuccessful.

Brittany Hills Ventures owns 30 homes, all in one location called Cherry Bend Rental Homes, in the far west end near Cherry Valley and Reddington roads.

Mark Evans, property manager for Brittany Hills Ventures, said the homes were built from 1993 to 2000 for people who wanted to rent, but not in the areas of Newark where rentals were available.

"They saw a need for good rental property in Newark, not the typical rental property in the city," Evans said of Brittany Hills Ventures.

"I still rent to quite a few people coming to the community, but decided to build. Quite a few of them I know moved in while building in Park Trails (housing subdivision)."